A delegation of the heads of the Israel Ministry of Economy and the leadership of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) visited Angola this week, and met with key officials in the country’s rough diamond sector. Initiated by IDE, the visit was meant to take advantage of changes in Angola’s diamond marketing policy to increase direct rough diamond sales to Israel.

The delegation was led by the Director General of the Israel Ministry of Economy Shay Rinsky, and included the Israel Diamond Controller Danny Tal, IDE President Yoram Dvash, Israel Diamond Institute Chairman Boaz Moldawsky, IDE Managing Director Eran Zini and Rough Diamond Chairman Committee Zvi Zamir. The visit was facilitated by the Israeli Ambassador to Angola Oren Rosenblatt.

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The Israeli group met with Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum Dr. Diamantino Azevedo, who expressed his government’s policy of promoting trade with new markets. He stated that the Israeli delegation represented an excellent opportunity to enhance belateral trade ties.

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The delegation also met with the Chairman of Soldiam (national diamond trading company) Eugenio Bravo da Rosa, who expressed his willingness to hold their first rough diamond tender in Ramat Gan, and to visit IDE within the next several weeks. The Israeli group also met with the CEO of Endiama (national diamond mining company) Dr. Jose Manuel Augusto Ganga Junior, who stressed the importance of the diamond mining sector to Angola’s economy.

The Israel Diamond Industry is a major importer of rough diamonds, especially larger stones, which the Israeli industry specializes in polishing. In 2018 Israel imported close to $3 billion in rough diamonds. To boost direct sales of rough diamonds to Israel, in 2017 IDE established a state of the art International Tender Center, which has hosted dozens of tenders by leading mining and rough diamond trading companies every year. This year IDE has also opened a center for live diamond auctions.

Credit: Israel Diamond Exchange

IDE President Yoram Dvash said, “This was a very successful visit for the Israeli diamond industry. Israel and Angola have many common interests and we see a real opportunity to strengthen ties between the diamond sectors of both countries. We are very pleased that Angola is about to join the ranks of the major international diamond producers holding rough tenders in Israel.”